22. January 2018

mini SWISS Pavilion at Iran Beauty & Clean

Swissness

Following the approval of the Swissness legal package by the Federal Council on 23 November 2016, the new regulations now have to be implemented by SKW and the companies. The new regulations on the Swiss indication of source and the use of the Swiss cross on products apply to cosmetics products as well as cleaning agents and detergents, with cos-metics products being subject to the additional “Swiss Made Cosmetics” industry ordinance (Swiss made Branchenverordnung Kosmetik).

a) Need for clarification for Swiss producers

Do my products comply with the new legislation (cleaning agents and detergents) and/or the “Swiss Made Cosmetics” industry ordinance (cosmetics products)?

Sales of products until 31 December 2018, which have been produced in accord-ance with previous law.

Have suppliers been informed about the new legal requirements and do the supply agreements stipulate that the suppliers are liable for potential damages arising from Swissness claims in the case of an incorrect indication of source being provided for a raw substance?

Are the suppliers familiar with SKW’s positive list for raw materials for cosmetics products and its meaning (see below)?

Contract manufacturers: Has the issue of responsibility and/or option to transfer a claim back to the customer been regulated in the case of the illegal use of a Swiss-made claim or Swiss flag? The issue regarding the responsibility for the formula and product label also remains.

b) Resources

The IGE website contains all of the important information on the new ordinances, in-cluding the “Swiss Made cosmetics” industry ordinance with ordinance wording and explanations

For reasons of anti-trust law and liability, the SKW is unable to provide companies with calculation tools.

he SKW will participate in a conference of AG Swissness in the spring, to which all Swiss producers are invited, and provide comprehensive information and the option to engage in a direct exchange of information and experiences.

c) SKW’s positive list of raw substances

The SKW has been engaged by the legislators to maintain this positive list.

Until now, none of the suppliers have applied to register a raw substance. This does not come as a surprise:

The new industry ordinance was only approved on 23 November 2016.

The raw substance suppliers have not yet tested their substances for compliance with the new legislation or in fact are unable to do so.

Despite the infrastructure being in progress, it could only be finalised after 23 No-vember 2016.

The first version of the positive list will be available once entries have been registered.

An initial period for the registration of raw substances by suppliers will start at that point and run until 30 July 2017.

The SKW shall not assume any liability for information provided in this positive list.

The respective regulations will be published on the SKW website.

d) Transitional period

Product produced before 1 January 2017 may initially only be marketed with indica-tion of source compliant with previous law until 31 December 2018 (Section 60aTmO).